''Diminutella'' is a genus of spiders in the family

Sparassidae Huntsman spiders, members of the family Sparassidae (formerly Heteropodidae), are known by this name because of their speed and mode of hunting. They are also called giant crab spiders because of their size and appearance. Larger species sometim ...

. It was first described in 2018 by Rheims and Alayón. It is a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

genus with one described species, ''Diminutella cortina''. It is endemic to

Pinar del Rio Pinar may refer to: * Pınar, Turkish feminine given name * Píñar, municipality located in the province of Granada, Spain * Pinar del Río, a city of Cuba * Pinar del Río Province, a province of Cuba * Pinar, Albania, village in Tirana County ...

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

Etymology

The generic name ''Diminutella'' is from the Brazilian adjective ''diminuto'' and the suffix ''ella'', referring to the minute size of the species. The specific name ''cortina'' is from Hacienda Cortina, where the species was found.

Description

It is one of the smallest members of the subfamily Sparianthinae known to date, with a body length of 4.2–4.4 mm in the male. The male's

prosoma The cephalothorax, also called prosoma in some groups, is a tagma of various arthropods, comprising the head and the thorax fused together, as distinct from the abdomen behind. (The terms ''prosoma'' and ''opisthosoma'' are equivalent to ''cepha ...

(cephalothorax) is orange with pale brown margins. There are thin dark brown lines along the lateral margins of the cephalic region. The

chelicerae The chelicerae () are the mouthparts of the subphylum Chelicerata, an arthropod group that includes arachnids, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. Commonly referred to as "jaws", chelicerae may be shaped as either articulated fangs, or similarly ...

, legs and

palps Pedipalps (commonly shortened to palps or palpi) are the second pair of appendages of chelicerates – a group of arthropods including spiders, scorpions, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. The pedipalps are lateral to the chelicerae ("jaws") and ...

are orange, the labium and

sternum The sternum or breastbone is a long flat bone located in the central part of the chest. It connects to the ribs via cartilage and forms the front of the rib cage, thus helping to protect the heart, lungs, and major blood vessels from injury. Sh ...

are pale yellow and the

opisthosoma The opisthosoma is the posterior part of the body in some arthropods, behind the prosoma (cephalothorax). It is a distinctive feature of the subphylum Chelicerata (arachnids, horseshoe crabs and others). Although it is similar in most respects to a ...

(abdomen) is creamy. The six spinnerets are yellowish cream colored. Eight eyes are arranged in two rows. The chelicerae have three promarginal (forward facing) teeth. The legs spread out sideways (i.e. are laterigrade). The body length of the female is 3.5–4.4 mm. It is similar in coloration to the male with darker variations. The prosoma is brown with dark brown marks. The chelicerae are brown and the legs and palps pale brown. The labium is pale orange, and the sternum orange. The opisthosoma is yellowish cream. The six spinnerets are yellowish cream.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q51636525, from2=Q50420257 Sparassidae Monotypic Araneomorphae genera Spiders of Central America Endemic fauna of Cuba